Game design
Reflection
week 3
1/23/17
Games Played: Pandemic, Takenoko, 8 minute per un impero
These games in a sense of gateway game, which as described by Lisa Steenson as a a game in which to bring people together and non-gamers to get non gamers involved. Gateway games usually have some assemblance of the following: easy to learn, slightly complex, a theme, some aspect of luck, a duration of around 1hr-1.5hr, originality, and replay-ability. While this list may seem like a lot of qualifications or a checklist for that matter in order for games to “make it”. However if you have a good concept and a thoroughly thought out set of rules, this is very much achievable. In regards to the 3 games played in class, some of these qualifications were apparent.
Takenoko, a game that first grabbed my attention and interest through its use of graphics and movable parts. Everything included in the game was very intricately designed and purposeful to unify every different element. The overall theme/ plot of Takenoko was to in theory feed a panda while maintaining the emperor’s bamboo gardens. While it seems like a simple original goal and idea, the makers of this game were able to turn it into something more complex with a variety of parts and actions. Of all 3 games, I think this one ranked highest in terms of being a gateway game. While it took a little bit to learn, it definitely kept your attention and interest throughout the learning curve. The different components and mechanics allowed for complexity but also to make the game more interesting and more subject to change-which allows for re-playability. These different pieces included building bamboo, customizing the board, cards, and character pieces. Because of the ability to change the game board and tactics depending on the players, Takenoko lends itself to being very gateway friendly
Pandemic’s theme is centered around major outbreaks of disease and illness as they spread across the earth affecting different civilizations. The overall goal is to cure the 4 different diseases before your time runs out and you’ve had too many outbreaks. This game is team oriented where everyone playing is a contributing party to the same goal. This twist was interesting as its the first time I’ve ever really played a game where everyone was on the same team. For this reason it was a little hard for me to grasp at first because you have to turn a competitive attitude into a collaborative one. I think because of it’s unique approach, it qualifies as a gateway game.
8 Minute per un Impero was definitely the hardest game to understand, especially as the time spent on this was far lesser than the previous two. I think a big part of the confusion was contributed to the translation of the instructions so some things were unclear and a lot of the game was left up to guessing. I think this game made the most sense when we didn’t rely so heavily on the instructions and just went with our gut and talked out our own opinions on how the game should run.